The Bhutanese Leading the way.
The fares for passenger bus and taxi has been revised by the Road safety and Transport Authority (RSTA), following the rise in price of petrol and diesel, and taking into consideration the other operating costs such as, cost of the vehicle, maintenance cost and driver’s salary among others. The revised fares will come into effect from 1 October.
According to RSTA, the existing taxi fare is Nu 16 per km or Nu 4 per km per person and likewise the existing coaster bus fare is Nu 1.29 per km per person.
The existing taxi fare from Thimphu to Phuentsholing by new route was Nu 604 per person and the existing coaster bus fare is Nu 195 per person. The new taxi fare will be Nu 679.5 and the new coaster bus fare will be Nu 217.
This means that taxi fares for Thimphu to Phuentsholing have been increased by Nu 75.5 per person while bus fares will be more expensive by Nu 22 per person.
If a person is travelling from Thimphu to Phuentsholing by the old route without using the Damchu bypass the new taxi fare will be 769.5 per person and the new coaster bus fare will be Nu 246.2 per person.
Similarly, there will be fare increases for all other routes.
RSTA official said, “Despite operator’s demand to increase the fare substantially, the bus fare was increased by only Nu 0.15 and taxi by Nu 2 per km because most users of public transport are from low income group, and we need to ensure that the rates are affordable.”
He said, “The fare revision is carried out twice a year, once in January to February and the other in June to July.
The revision is done based on the rise or fall of more than five percent in the overall operating costs which includes fuel cost, vehicle cost, driver’s salary, maintenance cost and others.”
“The current revision is based on slight increase in the price of petrol and diesel and other operating costs. The last revision was done in November 2017 following the drop in the price of petrol and diesel,” he said.
In capital today, the price of petrol is Nu 69 per liter and the price of diesel is Nu 68 per liter, according to RSTA official.
This is still much lower than India by around Nu 10 for petrol and diesel.
